Nigeria’s NNPCL wraps revamp, restarts operation of long-idled Warri refinery

Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NNPCL) has completed rehabilitation and restarted processing and production activities for Warri Refining & Petrochemcial Co. Ltd.’s (WRPC) 125,000-b/sd refinery in Nigeria’s Delta State (OGJ Online, May 3, 2021).

As of Dec. 30, the Warri refinery had resumed operations after several years of inactivity, with the complex now operating at 60% of its nameplate capacity, NNPCL and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said in a series of separate posts to their official social media accounts.

With operations restored, Tinubu said WRPC will focus on producing and storing critical finished products for the market, including straight-run kerosine, automotive gas oil, and heavy and light naphtha.

Tinubu also called on NNPCL to accelerate repair work on its remaining two state owned refineries, including NNPC RefChem-held Kaduna Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd.’s (KRPC) 110,000-b/sd refinery in Kaduna State and the 150,000-b/sd refinery co-located at the “new” Port Harcourt complex. In doing so, he reiterated that NNPCL’s implementation of an earlier presidential directive to restore all four state-owned refineries to good working condition is on course. The current administration is determined to ramp up Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity as part of positioning the country as a hub for industrial activities in Africa,

WRPC’s Warri refinery is the second of NNPCL’s four state-owned refineries to return to service this year following extended periods of inoperability. NNPC RefChem Ltd.-held subsidiary Port Harcourt Refining Co. Ltd.’s (PHRC) last month restarted operations at its 60,000-b/sd hydroskimming refinery at Alesa-Eleme near Port Harcourt in Nigeria’s Rivers State (OGJ Online, Nov. 27, 2024).

Initiated under former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the program to refurbish, optimize, and expand capacities of Nigeria’s state-run refineries also forms part of the nation’s Renewed Hope Agenda focused on shared economic prosperity for all. The program includes enhancing Nigeria’s energy security via growth of in-country refining capacity to supply higher-quality, value-added products that meet domestic demand, with surplus available for export to international markets.

Neither NNPCL nor the Nigerian government has revealed a specific timeframe for anticipated completion of the KRPC and remaining PHRC projects.